Story #1
Goal: Get clients and potential clients to know, like, trust (and share) your business.
To do this, we have chosen to highlight the connection you have with each individual client and family you work with and for. You both put a lot of value in building friendships, loyalty, and trust with your patients. Visiting Century Dental is an experience, not just another appointment. We have to showcase this through images, portraits, infographics and video.
Images:
Client interaction images: Laughing with Clients, Talking to clients in person, on the phone talking to clients. How else do you show your clients you care about them as individuals? How do you provide an experience as you mentioned in your questionnaire? What images could we use to showcase this?
Throw back Images. Do you have interesting, funny, unique pictures of yourselves as kids? When you were newly married? When you are at one of your kids events cheering them on? Show your C and PC that you are a real person, someone who is fun to be around, has a sense of humor and is a human being behind the dental mask!
Get to know your dentist. Similar to throwback, but possibly more personal. All about know, like, trust factor. Images can be of you as a dentist, but captions need to tell a story about you as an individual.
Customer Milestones/Patient News: Before and Afters, an exciting event for a long time customer you wish to showcase (birth of a new baby, finishing first triatholon, etc.). Show that you KNOW your customers and what they are doing in their lives and CARE about them as people not just as clients. Your target client (as mentioned in your questionnaire) was women, specifically moms. Your images should primarily be of women and moms to target the ideal demographic you are hoping for.
Consider a Patient of the Month Program: Recognize a patient by giving them flowers, a gift card, etc. Post a picture of the gift, and the patient. Tag them and celebrate them. They will very likely share the images and you will build engagement on your account, as well as the relationship with the client.
First Visit Posts: Print a sign (canva, vistaprint, etc) that has your brand colors and logo on it and a cute “First Visit” indicator on it. Post a picture (with their permission) holding the sign with a smile. In the captions, talk a little bit about this person and get a quote from them about their experience.
Follow up Phone Calls: After a difficult procedure or extraction, make it a priority to call and check on your patient. This helps them to feel like they are cared about. Have some images that include Dr.’s or Staff on the phone and include some testimonials in the caption from people who appreciated getting the follow up phone call. (Prompt them after by asking: “how did you feel when…”
Preschool/Daycare Field Trips: Consider offering local preschools to come in for a visit to the dentist. Make it a fun event for the kids, but also make sure you get lots of pictures (preferably high quality, well lit images that tell the story of what it is you are doing). Again, get quotes from the kids, the teachers, etc. of what it was like to come into your office.
Team Member News/Employee Spotlight: Have an in action photo of each team member (not just a business headshot), but a picture of them working in your office. In your caption, tell a little about the staff member and get a quote from them about why they love working at Century Dental. Prompt them with something regarding being listened to, cared for, being a part of a family, etc. Use this opportunity to get images and video.
Testimonials: Ask favorite clients, or your longest standing clients, to do a testimonial. Get some pictures of them in the dental chair as well as talking to the dentists. Use this opportunity to get images and video.
Team Building Activities: Show that you care about your staff and your clients and that is why you have such a happy, friendly environment b/c everyone loves being there. Show images of your team building activities, whether you are going out to lunch, or participating in an specific activity or party.
Baseball Patient Appreciation Day: This is an opportunity to get LOTS of great photos. Show the doctors in their shorts and t-shirts, eating nachos, hanging with their families. Show the staff and patients together having a good time. Don’t waste this opportunity to get a lot of great pictures to use throughout the year for client/patient/staff/etc. Posting options. The more pictures you get at each of these events, the better.
Dental Health Tips: Seasonal tips like back to school, 4th of July, Halloween etc. try and make your social media accounts something everyone wants to follow b/c there is something to be gained by them from you. Use Canva, your logo and brand colors, images from the above list, and even stock images to make your Dental health Tips consistent with your brand. Post Tips regularly. This can be a favorite toothbrush, toothpaste, time of day to brush, flossing technique (like leaving the floss by the couch so you can floss while you watch TV or something).
Humor. Show your lighter side with Memes, funny quotes, etc. People love people who make them laugh or smile and it also helps with engagement on your account.
Contests and Scholarships. For any and all contests, student scholarships, etc. you offer make sure that they follow your social media accounts to enter the contest. Contests can be organized around your dental practice birthday (many options for images with this), Holidays, Dental-related special days/months, appointment scheduling, referral acquisition, etc. Offer teeth whitening, a gift card to a movie or local restaurant, etc. Make sure and get photos of the winner and hype it up to generate shares, follows and engagement from your social media platform.
Recipes/Healthy Snacks. This can be on-going and can be curated from the web. Ask for C or PC recipe submissions too so you can highlight C’s here as well. Recipes tend to get a lot of followers and engagement if you have mouth watering images. Talk about specific ingredients that are particularly good for dental health and use those in the recipe.
story #2
Goal: Help C’s and PC’s to see your commitment to continual training and education that is part of your brand.
We can highlight the 100 hours of CE you are committed to each year. Help Clients and Potential Clients understand what a fellowship is and what new things you have learned, what new techniques and strategies you are implementing based on the most current trends, technology and education. This builds on the know, like and trust factor from Story #1. They trust you to know exactly what you are doing, and doing things with the upmost levels of technology, resources and education.
Update your patients with practice growth. Since the dental industry is such a dynamic field with new technologies and treatments coming out on a regular basis, keep your patients informed about what you are doing different, how you are keeping up with the newest trends of the day and help clients feel like you are always striving for improvement. Even if it is a remodel or an installation of new equipment that may seem irrelevant. It builds trust to know you are always growing and moving forward.
Live on Instagram and/or Facebook. Consider going Live and having an “ask me anything” session or a behind the scenes session specifically for your more specialized procedures.
What is a fellowship? Why is that important to your practice? Images of certificates or other details to showcase the importance of this. Video explanation or a story about something you learned or gained through a fellowship. This is different than stating the FACT that you got a fellowship. Tell a story, so you aren't spewing your resume, but you are helping them see why fellowships are important and how this is beneficial to them. Many (maybe even most) people won't know what a fellowship for a dentist is or why you might have one or what that means to them.
Awards. What awards have you won and what did you do to receive those? Images of the award itself, or of you receiving the award. Again, similar to the fellowship, tell a story about the award. I have linked at the end of this a book I HIGHLY recommend for you to read. It is a way of building relationships with C and PC's without selling yourself directly. It is highly effective and the book is extremely beneficial to all aspects of marketing, but social media marketing especially so.
Images of IV Sedation and tell about what that is and why it is beneficial to clients who might need it. Going back to "story", walk people through a story of a terrified child, or adult and how IV sedation made all the difference.
Attending an industry conference or course? Take a picture and share a post regarding the course you attended. This demonstrates your expertise and willingness to learn and improve your skills. Focus on how this benefits your patients and improves your practice with new qualifications and added expertise.
Examples of what CLE is. What do you learn, where do you go, why did you choose this specific conference or educational experience? 100 hours of CLE sounds amazing...SHOW C and PC’s how amazing it is by including images and stories about what you have learned or who you learned it from (world renowned dentist with a great story teach your conference? Get a picture with him or her and post it!); where you go to learn it or even a picture of you sitting and studying materials. Include in your captions more about what you have learned if it can’t be seen well in an image or video.
Recommend dental apps. People love new apps and there are several out there that help with preventative dentistry and show that you are in line with the current trends of today. Some suggestions are:
Brush DJ – it’s a toothbrush timer app that entertains users with musical background while they brush. It also allows them to set reminders to brush, floss, use a mouth rinse, change their toothbrush every 3 months, and schedule their next appointment at their dentist, hygienist or orthodontist;
Teeth Whitener – the application aims at convincing patients to get a teeth whitening treatment by allowing them to see themselves with a brighter smile;
Monster Mouth DDS – a fun app that lets users be a dentist for an array of monster patients, each of which has a distinct dental complaint. It’s a kid-friendly app and some of the problems users can solve are rubbing a tooth to clean it, finding hidden tooth cracks with an X-ray, and filling in cavities;
Colgate Tooth Fairy – helps families build regular brushing routine with a teeth timer game, while providing valuable tips on dental care.
Infographics. Infographics are the most easily and widely shared photos on Pinterest and they drive a lot of traffic to your website. When you have traffic on your website, you go up higher in Google's SEO rankings and search lists. Here is a link to my blog post with 31 Powerful Image Marketing Ideas for your Dental Practice. It includes examples of infographics and why these can be helpful in your social media strategy.
**Recommended Reading: Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen**
story #5
Goal: Help C's and PC's see all of the services you offer at your practice. You can take care of every oral care need in one office.
Here we show all of your services, and why this is unique to your office.
What does your office look like? Images of the different rooms, the front desk, the children’s area, the comfortable waiting room chairs, etc. all help build familiarity and make your office a more comfortable place. Show how in one office you have equipment for preventative dentistry, restorative dentistry, etc. Show through video and images how all of this is available under one roof.
Behind the scenes. Offer images or video of you and your team in action.
Appointment reminders for regular cleanings and specialized options. Many people are on the verge of needing their wisdom teeth pulled but just need an extra reminder. Or have been thinking about getting invisalign for sometime and you can be that added influence through pictures of before and after, or educated them on why it is important, etc.
Images of dental implants and clients who have them. Testimonials.
Sleep dentistry. Could do a lot with this service. Testimonials are key for this as well.
“Social proof is a psychological phenomenon where people conform to the actions of others under the assumption that those actions are reflective of the correct behavior.” --Syed Balkhi (owner of OptinMonsters).
Preventative Dentistry: showcase all of your different preventative dentistry options that you mention on your website in different images that we can discuss options for. Your images with this don’t have to relate directly to what option you are sharing. But have an image and share what you do and why. Here is an example of this on Twitter: Imperial Dental
Focus on individual procedures that fall under this category. We can generate stock images, or create our own for posts that inform and educate C and PC’s of what you offer.
Create Polls or Questions to post on social media with regards to different Preventative Dentistry options.
Restorative Dentistry: showcase all of your different restorative dentistry options that you mention on your website in different images that we can discuss options for.
Focus on individual procedures that fall under this category. We can generate stock images, or create our own for posts that inform and educate C and PC’s of what you offer.
Create Polls or Questions to post on social media with regards to different Restorative Dentistry options.
Cosmetic Dentistry: showcase all of your different Cosmetic dentistry options that you mention on your website in different images that we can discuss options for.
Wisdom Teeth (this could be a series of what to expect when...and proper follow up, etc).
Orthodontics. Before and After photos. Benefits of Invisalign, free consultation.
Testimonials. 92% of PC will trust recommendations from a peer and 70% will trust a recommendation from someone they don’t even know. Testimonials of each type of service you offer with an image of the client or a video of the client, has a profound effect on the decisions of potential patients and clients. Here is a great article from Content Marketing Institute on ways to Get and Craft Client Testimonials: Content Marketing Testimonials.
Summary
Instagram: You should be posting images on Instagram 3-5 times a week to beat the algorithm. If you are not posting regularly, no one will ever see your posts as they sink to the very bottom of everyone’s feed.
Facebook. Depending on where you choose to focus your marketing efforts, FB or IG, be sure to be consistent and use high quality clear images that represent your brand effectively.
Website/Blog: Update the cover photo on your website to match your brand goals. Blogging helps with SEO, increases your reliability and connectibility with C and PC and can easily coincide with the images and stories you post on your social media accounts.
Pinterest: Pinterest is the number one force for driving traffic to your website. There are specific ways you can use this in a professional way that can be helpful for marketing your business.
Ads and Marketing Tools: Use images on Facebook Ads to build awareness. Use the Facebook Ad Funnel technique to build brand awareness, establish trust, and ultimately ask them to check you out. Facebook Ads should be high on your list of marketing strategies b/c if done correctly can massively increase your PC awareness.
Timing: Post regularly. Quality over quantity with your images. Do not post low quality cell phone images on a business account. Dedicate a staff member to your social media account and make it a priority. We live in a day where social media and visual appeal is KING.
Things to avoid:
- Keep your captions professional.
- Do not delve into politics or highly opinionated social issues.
- Don’t try and sell yourself in your posts.
- Don’t share visuals of extreme dental cases.
- Don’t use stock photos on Instagram or Pinterest. The algorithms sift through unoriginal content and shove it down to the bottom of the feed.
- Don't use low light low quality images, even if you want to share something important. Use any other picture and tell the same story. Low quality images look less professional across your social media feed.
What is next?
Look over these ideas, and let's set a date for the photo session, and we can solidify the images you want access to. We will need to contact any patients (you can use members of your family as well), and staff that will be in the images and we need to get model release forms signed prior to photo day. I would like to come into your office ahead of time so I can see what the lighting situation is and what equipment I will need to bring to enhance the lighting. If you are interested in getting video at the same time, I can talk to my videographers about coming on the same day.
Once we have completed the photo session, I will edit these images and will send you a link to download all 90 images with commercial rights to use as you see fit.
If you are interested in getting additional images after your 90 are used, we can go straight to business and set up the time and date since we have all of this background information more or less covered.
